Bristol needs ‘cage rattling’ to spark playoff push
It was CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
20 years ago when Dale Earnhardt Sr. spun Terry Labonte to win a Saturday night race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt was chasing the trophy — the playoffs didn’t exist, no stages, no bonus points — and The Intimidator simply wanted the victory. Labonte had squeezed past Earnhardt to momentarily take the lead and Earnhardt immediately spun him out of his way.
The crowd at the packed Bristol bullring jeered Earnhardt’s aggressive move, and the seven-time champion dismissed the criticism. “Didn’t mean to really turn him around, meant to rattle his cage, though,” said an unapologetic Earnhardt.
Two decades later, there is so much more on the line as NASCAR returns to Bristol on the anniversary of one of the most famous finishes in series history. There are only three races left to make the playoffs and only nine drivers have locked in their slots. Jimmie Johnson is on the outside of the top 16, trying to work his way into a chance to race for a record eighth championship.
As NASCAR looks back — fondly, no doubt — on that showdown between a pair of Hall of Famers, perhaps there needs to be a whole lot more cage rattling at this stage of the season.
Bristol, particularly its August race, was always one of the toughest tickets and boasted 55 consecutive sellouts from 1982 through 2010. The track accommodated 30,000 fans at the start of the streak, but expanded as most NASCAR promoters did during the 1990s to an obese 161,000 seats because fans were pouring through the gates in record numbers at venues.
When the 2008 economic crisis began, and fans were no longer willing to pay inflated prices for hotels along the Tennessee/Virginia line, the crowd began to dwindle. The sellout streak ended two years later, Bristol’s great Coliseum has removed roughly 20,000 seats since.
Of course, fans can argue the racing just isn’t the same as it was in 1999 when Earnhardt used his bumper to win a race.
Drivers also don’t want the drama that comes with a feud.
Problem is, NASCAR needs rivalries and controversies and drivers to rattle a cage to get a win.
There’s too much on the line to play nice or race for points, and it would do the sport good if the drivers attacked Saturday the same way Earnhardt did 20 years ago.